KCOH fraud suit dismissed

By Cindy George |
February 7, 2014
| Updated: February 7, 2014 8:16pm

Michael Harris, who was a popular KCOH host for 38 years, claims he is in financial distress over loans.

Former longtime KCOH radio host Michael Harris' fraud lawsuit against current station operator and president Jesse Dunn may be resolved just four months after being filed.

According to case updates that appeared online late Thursday, Harris County District Court Judge Larry Weiman signed an order closing the case. However, on Friday, the entry was revised to indicate that the case ended because of a final summary judgment.

The suit, which names South Houston Community Development Corp. (doing business as KCOH 1230 AM) and Dunn, claims he made false representations to induce Harris to secure two personal lines of credit totaling $130,000 for the station and to back a $38,000 financing agreement for radio equipment.

According to the complaint, financial documents and pronouncements in local media outlets by Harris, Dunn allegedly acquired a debit card on at least one credit line to pay personal expenses as well as fund trips to Louisiana and Las Vegas casinos.

Harris resigned in September after 38 years on the air. For six decades, KCOH was the radio voice of Houston's black community.

Dunn has denied misusing funds, and his lawyer, state Rep. Harold Dutton, took to the airwaves last year to dispute Harris' claims as "inaccurate and misleading."

When contacted, Dutton said he wasn't aware that the lawsuit had been dismissed but was pleased with the development. In December, he filed a motion for summary judgment in the case stating that Harris had failed to make a claim for fraud and that the former radio host had submitted documents showing that he "freely and voluntarily executed loans to the station."

Filing to end case

On Friday, Harris' lawyer of record - Robert Nabeeh Collier - prepared court papers requesting an emergency hearing so that he could ask the judge to reconsider ending the case. A signed affidavit stated that Collier "had no knowledge" of Dunn's motion for summary judgment, that "to the best of his knowledge" his office never received the motion and that Harris wasn't given the required notice to file a response to the motion.

As the civil case lingers, Harris said he dips into more dire financial straits. He said he received a demand letter last month from the radio equipment lease financing company stating that he is responsible for $43,000 due and "may be immediately sued."

KCOH - which bills itself as the state's oldest black-formatted station - signed on in 1953 and moved to its iconic building in the heart of Third Ward in 1963.

Ownership change

The station was on the market until late 2012, when relatives of the late Mike Petrizzo, the longtime majority owner, and other partners sold its signal for $2.1 million to La Promesa Foundation of Midland. That outfit relaunched 1430 AM with Catholic programming as part of the Guadalupe Radio Network.

A group of black investors attempted to buy the station with all of its assets but was unsuccessful.

Dunn worked out a deal to lease the 1230 AM frequency from Liberman Broadcasting. The new leadership team also is leasing the use of the historic call letters and the "looking-glass" studios at 5011 Almeda from 1430's former owners.